Request a Quote
Items in Your Cart0
0Items in Your Cart
Start building your packageShop Now
As underwater ROV technology continues to evolve and transform, industry professionals are faced with a simple question: diver or drone?
While the question may be simple, often the answer is not and depends on a multitude of factors such as the scope of a task, operating environment/conditions and project complexity to name a few. Ultimately everything boils down to two factors: safety and cost. All other factors, fall under or are measured by, the safety of the team and the all-mighty dollar.
Safety is, of course, our number one concern any time we’re out on or in the water. No operation is successful unless all members of the crew are safely working throughout the task. While water is essential for life, it is also a force of its own capable of harming someone in an instant. Thus, all phases of a project (from planning to completion) must consider all aspects to reduce risks as much as possible.
Traditionally S&R arrive on site and begin by surveying the area to find a safe area to deploy from. Then they set up command control and must decide whether or not circumstances permit a dive to take place. If they do, a diver then suits up and enters the water cautiously and carefully, operating with the aid of his dive team to ensure that they remain safe and able to perform the S&R duties. This whole process can take hours.
When using an ROV by comparison, the operator arrives on scene, finds an entry point or cuts a hole in the ice and begins operating. This can take place within minutes which is crucial during S&R operations. In this situation, we’re not replacing the need for the divers. Instead, the Deep Trekker allows first responders to begin sweeping the scene immediately and augments the efforts of divers, creating an effective team of man and machine. It can eliminate areas that don’t need to be dived in or pinpoint ones that do. In these challenging tactical recovery dive situations, the value of a Deep Trekker is immediately apparent. The speed with which it can deploy and the low risk to the operator makes it a virtual no-brainer.
How about the many other underwater operations? There are many operating environments where ice and rescuing a human life are not included in the project outline, what are the benefits of a Deep Trekker versus diver then?
ROV Monitoring Salvage Diver at Hydro Dam. Demonstrates how ROVs can be a great way to monitor underwater construction.
In addition to being expensive, commercial diving can also require a large team. Most jobs require a dive team consisting of a commercial diver, a standby diver and a diving supervisor who communicates with the diver in the water at the surface control point. As the scope of a job grows, so does the size and role of the team. In as few as two days, you can recuperate the cost of a Deep Trekker versus a commercial dive project.
Curious how quickly you'd recuperate your investment? We keep our pricing model open and transparent for anyone to see on our website. The specs of our high-quality, Canadian built Deep Trekkers are listed alongside prices as well as our wide variety of attachments.
This is not to say that ROVs will or should replace all commercial diving jobs. There will always be repairs and tasks that require the human expertise of a commercial diver. However, with the option of performing inspections with an ROV, you can save your highly trained divers to do what they do best, and leave the more simple inspection jobs for an ROV. This will reduce your diving costs and will also make projects for commercial divers safer and more straight forward. With an ROV completing pre-inspections, you can best determine how to use the bottoms times and monitor the diver for extra safety while they complete their work.
Own an ROV? Let us Know What You Find it Most Useful For!
The deeper a diver descends, the less time they are able to spend at operational level and the longer the ascent due to the necessary safety stops to avoid decompression sickness.
A Deep Trekker ROV on the other hand, lasts for 4-8 hours on a single charge (1.5 hour to charge). This means hours of operational capability at shallow and deep depths. Because it is battery powered, you can take your Deep Trekker anywhere without requiring a power outlet or a bulky, loud and odor releasing generator. This is also what allows us to reduce the size of the tether (just 5mm in diameter since no power is running through the line) meaning less drag in the water, especially at deeper depths.
Deep Trekker ROVs will not replace a diver in all situations and in many, it augments the activities a diver is already undertaking. There are many incredibly talented men and women on whom the industry relies for their human touch and we’re very lucky we get to work with these professionals on a daily basis. Let’s also not forget that on the other end of a Deep Trekker is a human operator capturing, storing and interpreting the data collected.
Mike Fletcher, a professional commercial diver and renowned wreck diver, states that “there is always the risk of injury or threat to the person diving”. He explains that whenever there is the chance to use something other than a person to perform a task the risk of injury to the diver is eliminated.
Taking all of this into account, often a Deep Trekker ROV keeps divers out of harms' way and adds an extra level of safety. In many inspection jobs, it also provides a more time, cost and resource efficient solution to getting eyes underwater.
March 29th, 2018
Water Tank ROV: Robotic Cleaning Solution...
January 31st, 2020
How are Remotely Operated Vehicles Used for Underwater Vessel Inspection?...
October 5th, 2020
In addition to numerous lighting and sensor options, Deep Trekker provides...